Class of 2022 – Portland Winterhawks
Throughout the month of August, we’re celebrating the class of WHL Graduates from the 2021-22 season. Join us as we go Club by Club in recognizing the achievements of the 20-year-old players from this past season moving on to access their WHL Scholarship or to professional hockey.
We continue our 22-part series with the Portland Winterhawks and their graduating trio of Jaydon Dureau, Taylor Gauthier and Clay Hanus.
Jaydon Dureau
Originally selected in the eighth round of the 2016 WHL Draft, forward Jaydon Dureau spent his entire WHL career with the Portland Winterhawks, scoring 205 regular season and playoff points over his five seasons in the Rose City.
Dureau, who calls White City, Sask. home, made his WHL debut December 17, 2017 at Everett, but broke into the League on a full-time basis the following season with 29 points from 67 games. His first WHL goal also came against the Silvertips in September of 2018.
Dureau was a point-per-game or better player for each of his final three seasons in the WHL, accented by a 70-point season in 2019-20 that served as a pre-cursor to his selection by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2020 NHL Draft.
Dureau added 31 points in Portland’s shortened 2020-21 campaign, then capped off his time in the WHL with a career best 24 goals in 49 games in 2021-22, a total that included three hat-tricks.
Dureau added six points in the 2022 WHL Playoffs, as the Winterhawks reached the Second Round.
He signed an entry-level contract with the Lightning in May, and after making five AHL appearances with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch in 2020-21 and 2021-22 appears set to make his full-time professional debut in the fall.
We’ve signed forward Jaydon Dureau to a three-year, entry-level contract.
📝: https://t.co/ubaZFHq2At pic.twitter.com/me6QIAXvh4
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) May 21, 2022
Taylor Gauthier
Selected 10th overall in the 2016 WHL Draft, goaltender Taylor Gauthier spent the majority of his 194 WHL regular season appearances with the Prince George Cougars beginning in the 2017-18 season.
Gauthier earned his first WHL victory against his hometown Calgary Hitmen October 10, 2017, collecting eight wins in total over his rookie campaign.
He upped his win total to 15 in 2018-19, collecting his first of his 11 career WHL shutouts with a 37-save performance November 3, 2018 against the Seattle Thunderbirds.
Gauthier earned number one goaltender status quickly in Northern B.C., playing in 55 games in 2018-19 and 50 more the following season. His 2,870 minutes played led the League in 2019-20.
He started the 2021-22 campaign with the Cougars, going 7-5-0-0 over 14 appearances before being dealt to the Portland Winterhawks just after the holiday break. From there, Gauthier posted a 24-4-0-0 record with the Winterhawks, coming within a whisker of the all-time WHL shutout minutes streak in the process by going 251 minutes and 11 seconds without surrendering a goal in early February (the WHL record, held by Chris Worthy, was set in 1967-68 and stands at 265:13).
He also lead the League with a .928 save percentage and was named to the U.S. Division First All-Star Team.
Gauthier made his playoff debut in 2022 against his former Prince George teammates, and registered a 1.92 goals-against average and .937 save percentage over 11 starts.
He will begin his professional career in the fall after signing an entry-level contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The rock between the pipes 🥅
Congratulations to Taylor Gauthier, U.S. Division Goaltender of the Year! pic.twitter.com/cZQiRDouuW
— Portland Winterhawks (@pdxwinterhawks) April 21, 2022
Clay Hanus
Defenceman Clay Hanus was originally signed by the Winterhawks in June of 2017 and over the course of five seasons, the product of Excelsior, Minn. played in 271 regular season and playoff games for Portland.
His WHL debut came September 23, 2017 at Everett; Hanus recorded his first WHL point in his next game, one week later against Seattle.
He collected six points from 56 games in his rookie season before scoring his first WHL goal October 3, 2018 in Kamloops, developing into a steady presence on the Winterhawks blueline.
Twice did Hanus hit double digits in goals, scoring 10 times during the 2019-20 season, then adding 18 more goals as Winterhawks captain as part of a 74-point season in 2021-22, a total that stood as second-most among WHL defencemen during the regular season.
Among his season highlights, a pair of four-point games on home ice February 9, 2022 against Spokane and March 12, 2022 versus Vancouver.
Hanus added six points in the 2022 WHL Playoffs, though he was limited to just eight appearances.
He was named to the U.S. Division First All-Star Team this past spring, and will make the jump to professional hockey this fall after signing with the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins of the AHL.
The Penguins have signed defenseman Clay Hanus for the upcoming 2022-23 season: https://t.co/p578ESRIiX pic.twitter.com/KyIVXDl2Nn
— WBS Penguins (@WBSPenguins) June 13, 2022
